The Lime Green Sword

Chapter One

I never thought I would be here again. A world of hierarchy based on levels and quests to fulfill. My hands felt real, and I could hear sounds. My senses were all digitally transferred here from the real world, but it felt incredibly real. I clenched my fist and watched as the blood disappeared, then let go and saw it flow back.

I was finally back.

Ten thousand people had been invited to test this new game out, we were all beta testers in this new environment, and were here before the game became commercial. All around me other players were also testing the system, it was amazing to see all of them here, each one as involved as I was.

"How old are you?" a fair haired girl said, she had finished choosing her clothing and was holding a huge sword in her hand. The name 'Casey' flashed above her head.

"I'm 17" I said, honestly. I felt like I was myself here, and it was all really happening.

"I'm the same" she said, "What a coincidence" I noticed her clothes, a small white skirt and low cut green spaghetti strap. "I'm from Christchurch, how about you?"

"I'm from Auckland" I said, "The North Shore"

"North Shore? You're a rich boy?"

"Nah", I scratched my hair. "Anyway, do you know what's happening here?" I tried to sound casual, I never really got to talk to girls much.

She stared at me, "Don't you know? This is a big deal, you might miss dinner you know."

"I know that" I laughed, "I've been here before" Just as I said that, a blonde woman stood on thin air and started speaking. Everyone started to gather around, some were amazed at how she was floating, Casey pushed me towards the crowd.

"Welcome everyone" the lady said, "My name is Israel, your host of this game, it's nice to meet you all and I hope we can all have a lot of fun together." There were a few shouts of agreement.

Israel went on, "Of course most of you are just here for sightseeing, we're in a beautiful spot and I understand that so please look and touch all you want, but for those of you looking for a challenge, then there is an extra bonus of levelling"

A few of the players nodded in agreement, there were definitely players here looking for more.

"For the players to reach level 10, there is a special treasure that will be unlocked to them" Some of the guys shouted out in excitement.

"What is the treasure?" a guy asked in the front

Israel frowned, "I can't tell you that yet, but you'll find out, when you reach level 10 you complete the game, the reward is a complete game changer."

The group of guys in the front cheered and started chanting something.

Casey sighed, "Guys are so immature, they hear there's a reward and get so excited." She turned to me, "You're happy just being here right? We don't need to go for the reward"

I grinned, actually I was thinking of going for the reward as well. We could log out here any time, but since I was already here, I may as well go further.

I didn't log out there, but I should have, if I had known better I would have left this game as soon as I could.

Israel raised her hands to signify the start of the game, a huge beam shot up into the sky and carved the words "Welcome to your Virtual Reality" and then, "Start"

The crowd started to spread out gradually, people went to explore, and after a few hours the first players started logging out. Some people were getting bored of the whole experience, others had made friends and sat down on the grass talking to each other. Then, a few of the players had started leveling. They did this by attacking monsters that stood outside the gates.

These monsters were easy to defeat, if you just swung your weapon they would fall, but they also didn't give much experience. The players who were leveling were planning to stay for a longer time, they probably didn't have much to do at home and had the time.

I was going to look around a bit more and then go back to the real world and sleep early for school tomorrow.

That's when the first complaints started arising. Israel was still alive, so she was able to answer everyone's questions.

"Where do we go to leave?" a tall guy asked

"Why are we still here?" a group of girls asked,

We were supposed to be able to exit this world by going to the home area and holding the "Exit" button, but a warning message was appearing. Red words that flashed

"Unable to log out, original setting not working"

Israel could only offer one explanation. " 'Original setting', means the game itself" she said, "Maybe someone cheated, and the system has changed slightly, but enough to temporarily stop us from logging out"

"But I need to do one of my projects" Casey said, "When can I go back?" Israel was a computer generated figure, she only had certain responses programmed in her settings, but she tried her best.

"I will find out how long" she said.

"But I want to go back now" Casey said, she had a group of others gathering around her expecting the same. They all looked unhappy, Israel was not allowed to let her customers get upset.

"I will tell you when I know" she said...